Canada will ban the sale of light-duty vehicles and passenger buses with internal combustion engines from 2035. With this new decision, the Canadian government shortens the deadlines for achieving this goal by five years. Initially, the sale of conventional vehicles was supposed to cease by 2040. According to government calculations, the transportation sector currently generates 25% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions,” said Alex Nestor, Vice President of the Canada-Bulgaria Business Network, on Bloomberg TV Bulgaria’s show “In Development.”
“The ban on the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles is just part of Canada’s ambitious goals for achieving a cleaner, greener, and more innovative economy. The reason behind this environmental process lies in its competition with the European Union and the Green Deal. This urges the European Union countries to also shorten their deadlines,” he commented.
Nestor pointed out that Western democracies develop their economies through the process of ‘creative destruction’ – policies aimed at encouraging innovation by introducing new jobs and professions. He explained that this is how Western democracies advance in their development, which is their main policy when it comes to a market economy.
“In connection with the Green Deal and Canada’s actions regarding the energy sector, similar processes are observed, except that they are implemented by the administration, which is entirely logical,” noted the Vice President of the Canada-Bulgaria Business Network.
He expects these changes to have a strong impact on the economies and industries of these countries and is convinced that without government participation and regulation, such changes cannot occur.
Nestor believes that despite the desire of some innovative companies in the renewable energy sector to develop without government assistance, such processes cannot happen.
He revealed that currently, Canada lacks the necessary infrastructure for the transition to green transportation by 2035. Therefore, the government has set a goal to build it by 2035 either through state investment or through public-private partnerships. The expert is categorical that the green plan cannot be realized if the infrastructure is not at the required level.
“Canada will focus on producing electric vehicle motors. A large part of the market is oriented towards electric cars, and at one point, there will be no production of internal combustion engine cars,” predicted Alex Nestor. “This innovative and green process will be stimulated through government subsidies, and another factor will be the green tax on the amount of carbon dioxide.”
He explained that this tax is not very high yet – approximately $20 per metric ton of CO2. Still, it will increase by $20 every year, which will become a significant amount in the future.
Nestor calculated that in this way, Canada will become one of the first countries with a high tax per metric ton, which should stimulate businesses to seek new innovative solutions and pay more attention to renewable energy sources.
What is Canada’s government program for reducing carbon emissions? Is Canada dependent on oil?
Watch the full conversation in the video material on Bloomberg TV Bulgaria.